'Grimm' season finale: David Giuntoli on 'The Woman in Black'

Tonight, David Giuntoli and the rest of the cast of Grimm wrap up their freshman season on NBC — but not everyone might make it to next season.

“We have three major cliffhangers, and, I’d say, maybe one of us don’t live to the next season,” Giuntoli teases of tonight’s season finale.

The episode, which introduces a new character called the Woman in Black, will help launch the supernatural drama into its second season. And though Giuntoli couldn’t say much about the character, he says she is “pivotal” and holds an importance that will run “throughout the entire story.” “We barely hear from her, but it’s big news,” he explains. “Obviously with a name like the Woman in Black,’ it’s completely shrouded in mystery. We kind of find out a little bit about what she is, but it’s a big, cool, thing.”

The season ender will also continue setting up the world of Grimm at war. “I think inevitably Nick is going to have to summon some rag-tag type of army — Monroe, maybe a Grimm here or there. I would be really interested in meeting another Grimm,” he says. “[Next season] know we’re going to be finding out more about the wars and the bigger forces at work. I think this season we really dealt with Nick’s individual journey, specific cases of these creatures. Going forward, we’re going to see a more macro-world order, and figure out Capt. Renard (Sasha Roiz) and what the hell he is. I think we’ll be discovering that.”

Until he has pages for next season in-hand, however, we’ll have to be patient and wait for answers. Giuntoli, meanwhile, says he will spend his hiatus brushing up on his fighting skills, which have been put to the test this season. “Stunts — I was never really ready for that. I was just like ‘Oh wait, I’m doing a big fight scene every other episode now.’ So I’m spending over the break trying to ready my body for that a little bit,” he says, adding with a laugh, “I don’t want to throw out my hips. They wanted me to kick down a door once, and I couldn’t kick above my navel. I was like ‘what are you guys doing? I’m this little Italian guy.’’’

But if there’s anything to keep him going it’s the vote of confidence from the network and the passion of Grimm‘s fans, which have turned the show into a “sleeper hit.” “We started and no one really expected anything from us necessarily,” he says. “But we grew quite a fan base….I know that now that we have a certain amount of viewers engaged, they want to see the mythology, and we have more freedom to do that now.” And they’re happy to give fans what they want, he says — to an extent.

“[Fans] are so engaged in the creative process. It’s nice to know we have that group following us…. [But there’s] actually lot of Grimm fanfiction where they always have me ending up making out with Sasha,” he says. “There was this one written where the captain brings Nick into the precinct, and they look across the table, and he says, ‘I’ve had my eye on you for a long time.’ And then he just grabs me and we start kissing.…It’s brilliant. Sasha has sent me that link. It was horrifying.”